The present invention relates to a conveyor system particularly suited for use in drive-in banks to convey a deposit box or similar receptacle from a remote customer station to a teller station and return; although the system may be used in any application wherein it is desired to transport documents or articles from one location to another. Specifically, the present invention constitutes an improvement over the type of conveyor system taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,824, issued Mar. 8, 1977 wherein a pair of self-contained vertical modules, one at the customer station and the other at the teller station, are interconnected by a horizontal module. The vertical modules each incorporate opposing sets of conveyor belts arranged to convey the deposit box therebetween in a vertical path of travel, the sets of belts being guided by staggered sets of idler rolls positioned to cause the sets of belts and the deposit box to move in a sinuous path of travel so that the box is securely engaged by the sets of belts and cannot fall or slip vertically. The horizontal module contains a belt conveyor for moving the deposit box horizontally from one end of the module to the other, translation means being provided at the opposite ends of the horizontal module for moving the deposit box from the horizontal module to the vertical modules and vice versa.
While the system just described has gone into widespread use and has been found to be highly efficient and essentially trouble free, the system is nonetheless relatively complicated and involves the use of a substantial number of conveyor belts, frame assemblies and other operating components. Even though relatively inexpensive as compared with other types of systems, a need was felt for a simpler and less expensive system to reach further segments of the potential market for such systems.